What are the best sports betting strategies? Watch Kurt Long break it down and give you an overview of the basics of the most common strategies and systems.

Source: https://www.wsn.com/betting-guide/strategies

For more betting guides visit: https://www.wsn.com/betting-guide

Video Transcript:

Sports betting strategy is a big topic. In fact, if you look around online you’ll find hundreds of people trying to sell you their “guaranteed to win” strategy.

What’s the hands-down best strategy? That depends on you, your bankroll and what you’re trying to get out of betting on sports.

In this video we’re going to touch on lots of different strategies and betting systems.

We’ll give you an overview of the basics and then you can continue studying with the comprehensive sportsbetting guides available for free on WSN.com.

Let’s get started.

STRATEGIES VS STAKING SYSTEMS

First of all it’s important to understand the difference between strategies and staking systems.

Strategies have to do with using statistics, research and observation to choose bets that are more likely to win.

Staking systems have to do with changing the AMOUNT you’re wagering on each bet to try to maximize your winnings.

Both can be useful so let’s start with some of the most popular strategies, and then we’ll move on to staking systems.

BETTING THE MIDDLE

Betting the middle is a great strategy for betting point spreads but it takes hard work to do it successfully.

First you have to find two different point spreads for the same game, either by shopping around at different sites or by betting on a point spread and watching it to see if it changes as the game gets closer.

If you can find two spreads for the same game that span a whole number, like -3.5 and -2.5 for example, you have an opportunity to make winning bets on both teams at the same time.

Sound crazy? Here’s how it works.

Say you’re betting NFL point spreads and you take Atlanta to beat Washington at +3.5.

If that line moves down a point, you can bet on Washington to win at -2.5 as well.

If Washington ends up winning by exactly three points, both your bets win.

BETTING AGAINST THE PUBLIC

Betting against the public is exactly what it sounds like.

When a big majority of bettors are putting action on the same side of a bet, statistics say you’re better off betting against them.

There are a few reasons it works.

First, sports gamblers in general don’t do a lot of research. They usually bet on their favorite teams or the ones that the media is hyping up to win.

In the NFL, for example, when at least 70 percent of the public is betting on one team to win, they’re wrong almost 55% of the time.

ZIG ZAG BETTING THEORY

The Zig Zag theory is a really clever strategy and when used properly it can be really effective.

This strategy works best for betting on NBA and NHL playoffs because teams play seven game series and have to fly back and forth between home and away games.

There are different ways to use the zig zag theory but perhaps the best is when the favorite loses at home in the first game of the series.

Historical NBA data shows that when the favorite is coming off a loss and playing Game 2 at home, they win 75% of the time.

STAKING SYSTEMS

Now that we’ve covered a few of the most common betting strategies, let’s look at the three most popular staking systems.
We’ll start with the most conservative and move up to the most aggressive.

For all of these systems we’re going to use bets that are as close to even money as possible. Point spreads and over/unders are good choices, or moneylines where the odds are close to plus or minus 100 for both teams.

FIXED STAKE

Fixed stake betting means betting the same amount every time, no matter what bet you’re making.

This is a great system for beginners because it’s the least risky. Your bankroll will go further and you’ll have more time to learn from your successes and failures.

Choosing your bet size depends on how much you have in your bankroll.

If you want to be conservative, bet only 5% of your bankroll at a time.

If you want to be more aggressive, choose a bigger percentage.

MARTINGALE

The martingale system is a bit more complicated. It’s designed to give you a small win almost every time you use it but it does come with risks.

To use the martingale, first choose a base betting unit. We recommend less than 5% of the total money you have for betting.
Start by betting one unit. Now, every time you lose a bet, double your wager on the next bet.

If you win, go back to betting one unit.

Since you’re always doubling your bet after a loss, it only takes one win to give you a small profit. As long as you have the bankroll to survive a string of losses, chances are you won’t keep losing forever.

The downside of the martingale is that if you get unlucky, the amount you have to bet to get back to even can get big really fast.